Prior to opening Impala Service Station, I was running the famous Independence Bar in Emmasdale area on the Great North Road, Lusaka, just before the Independence Stadium. This bar was opened by my dear late father Christopher Harry Findlay shortly after Zambia gained independence in 1964. Being situated on the way to the Stadium my father could not resist naming the bar “Independence Bar. “
When I took dealership of Impala Service Station in 1972, I decided to open on the 24th October which is Independence Day. The idea of getting into the fuel business was a chance encounter. I was having a conversation with the then Sales Director of Caltex, Hugh Atkinson on the subject of profit margins on beer and fuel. I was convinced that volumes of fuel sales would exceed volumes of beer consumed. I decided to go for a dealership with Caltex.
I was inspired & encouraged by my dear late Mother, Marjory Findlay to do this; even loaning me one thousand Kwacha to open a bank account with Barclays Bank. Within a month my bank account was running on an overdraft of four thousand kwacha, which thanks to the good name & trust Barclays Bank had for my parents, I was allowed to continue with an overdraft. Impala Service Station dealership was initially with Caltex Oil Zambia until Caltex sold out to Chevron, however still operating under the Caltex brand. Chevron eventually sold out to Engen and now Vivo Energy has taken over.
I set up Impala Service Station to be a one stop shop. Motorists would drive in to fuel their vehicles knowing that our shop had cigarettes, snacks and essential car accessories, like tyres, batteries, lubricants, spark plugs, light bulbs and in the rainy season wiper blades. I remember a tourist driving into Lusaka and about 100 meters before Impala Service Station had a puncture. He had no spare tyre, so he slept in the car. He was surprised the next morning when we told him that we would have mended his tyre at night because we prided ourselves on the fact that we ran a 24-hour mending service.
Besides fuel and lubricants, the other big business we took on was car and truck tyres. We were one of the first appointed dealers of Dunlop Tyres manufactured in Zambia. Our main customers were the truckers like Petand Transport, Jerlija Transport, Mataringwe Transport, N. P. Transport, A. M. Motors and many private companies with fleets of vehicles who still support us today, Thank you!
50 years is a long journey and it would not have been possible without the assistance and support of family. I would like to like to give special thanks to my late ex wife Elizabeth, my late brothers Edwin, Freddie and Joe, my sisters Dorothy and Osanna who were always there when I needed help and support.
I am grateful to our dedicated accounts & sales team we have at Impala Service Station & Autoworld. I also want to acknowledge that in 1972 the first team I employed were trained by Caltex. The staff today have carried this training on and maintain a standard that has been kept with pride. Late Michael Zulu & Braison Lungu who were the first supervisors worked with us until their retirement. Michael eventually ended up as General Manager
Over the years as we grew Impala Service Station, we organized promotions. The famous ones were the Grand Raffles where a lucky customer would win a car on the draw date.
We now have fully equipped workshops doing not only tyre mending but Wheel balancing, alignment and servicing of vehicles.
All this had been made possible because of the able management of the company by our son Glenn and our nephews David and Pierre Findlay who has been at the helm of the company for the past 15 years.
When we were growing Impala Service Station to what it is today, we imported a container of patches from England, I remember how Cossie my wife worked with our children Glenn, Chris and Charlotte for many weeks sorting the patches into different sizes & repacking them for sale, because when we opened the container every single patch of many sizes was loose.
We opened a snack bar at the rear of the service station that over the years became the baby of my sister-in-law Gail who has grown the reputation of making the best meat pie in the whole of Lusaka and has now expanded into selling them frozen ready for the oven. I am so proud and thankful to Gail.
Last but not least I would like to say thank you to my wife Cossie who supports me in every way.
Over the years Impala Service Station has expanded and is now the Mother of Autoworld.
As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Impala Service Station, I could not be more grateful and proud of the Partnership we share with our customers. Our success would not have been possible without you.
Thank you
